Notre Dame, 2022-'23 Season

[CONNCAN]

for those ND fans out there, it is interesting to see how well Kaylee Watson has stepped up her game within the past couple of weeks. She has been scoring in double digits in consecutive games (1 being over 20 vs. Louisville) and had a Double Double vs. Georgia Tech last night. Now that ND has Ebo back and playing, it has helped The Fighting Irish on the court. Do they still miss Dara Mabrey? In some ways, Prosper has been up'ing her game in recent outings. It will be a extremely competitive ACC Tournament and Sunday's rematch vs. Louisville at Louisville will be a really good test for ND prior to the ACC Tournament. [Still say that Miles and Citron is the best backcourt in the NCAA this year]

 

[Dillon77]

for those ND fans out there, it is interesting to see how well Kaylee Watson has stepped up her game within the past couple of weeks. She has been scoring in double digits in consecutive games (1 being over 20 vs. Louisville) and had a Double Double vs. Georgia Tech last night. Now that ND has Ebo back and playing, it has helped The Fighting Irish on the court. Do they still miss Dara Mabrey? In some ways, Prosper has been up'ing her game in recent outings. It will be a extremely competitive ACC Tournament and Sunday's rematch vs. Louisville at Louisville will be a really good test for ND prior to the ACC Tournament. [Still say that Miles and Citron is the best backcourt in the NCAA this year]

I think the Irish are reconfiguring a bit following the season-ending injury to Dara Mabrey and the lower-extremity injury that forced Lauren Ebo to the bench for a few weeks. However, as ACC analyst Kelly Gramlich, better to have those injuries happen mid-winter than now, so Coach Ivey and her staff can figure out what works best going forward.

• Clearly, Watson benefitted from getting more uninterrupted playing time once Ebo went down. Whether a light went on or the coaches helped the light go on, she's been much more aggressive in taking the ball to the hoop, both off the dribble and from down-low passes. On the latter, she's going straight up more often than not and that's had benefits.
• Cassan Prosper is doing a remarkable job for a player who is still 17. She's already helped the Irish defensively, in rebounding and on 50/50's. She's not jacking up shots all the time, but letting them come to her so she can set her feet. KK Bransford needs to work on the jumper beyond 10 feet, but she is decisive in going to the hoop and hoisting up pull-up jumpers and finding lanes.
• And, perhaps most surprisingly, Nat Marshall and Jenna Brown are getting PT and Marshall, particularly, is taking advantage of it.

They're rounding into form for the ACC and NCAA tourneys. Last night was the well-rounded attack you like to see, so Miles and Citron don't get too fried.

 

[Geew1992]

Miles just went down with an apparent knee injury. Didn’t look good

 

[TheGOAT23]

Miles just went down with an apparent knee injury. Didn’t look good

It definitely didn’t look good. Hopefully, it’s not serious. She was in good spirits in the 4th cheering on her teammates. Her dad seemed to give her some words of comfort. Waaay to go dad! GodSpeed, Olivia.

 

[cancontent]

Congrats to the Irish winning the regular season ACC title. For some ND fans, there was skepticism with what Ivey wanted to do. Think this helps to prove that "trusting the process" isn't a bad thing.

Unfortunate to see Miles go down during this intense game against Louisville. Citron picked the slack and helped keep the team on track offensively. Prosper's early enrolment is proving to be a fortunate move due to these unfortunate injuries that is depleting ND's guard depth.

Fingers crossed that the news on Miles' injury isn't serious. Her availability for the tournament isn't my primary concern. I'm hoping that she's not out for a significant period of time.

 

[Dillon77]

Four Notre Dame Players Cited in 2022-'23 ACC End-of-Season Awards
(by Tyler Horka of 'Blue and Gold")

"Four of Notre Dame’s 10 scholarship players earned recognition from the league. Sophomore guards Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron are All-ACC First Team selections. Junior forward Maddy Westbeld made the Second Team while freshman KK Bransford was named to the All-Freshman team.

"Notre Dame has one of the best guard duos in the country in Miles and Citron. Hailing from the same recruiting class, Citron leads Notre Dame with 14.5 points per game while Miles is right on her heels at 14.3. Miles leads the Irish in rebounds (7.2), assists (6.9) and steals (2.1) per game. Citron ranks fourth (5.5), fourth (2.3) and second (1.6) on the Irish in those respective categories. Citron’s three-point percentage of 45.1 leads all Irish players by a considerable margin. The next best figure is Westbeld’s mark of 35.7.

"Westbeld, a former ACC Freshman of the Year, is the Irish’s third-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game. She also sits at 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Like Citron and Miles, Westbeld started all 28 of Notre Dame’s regular season games. Among players who played in all 28, Westbeld also ranked third among them in minutes per game at 26.8. Citron led the team at 33.1, and Miles ranked second at 31.7.

"Bransford has played in all 28 games and has averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds 1.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game. She made seven starts after the injury to graduate student guard Dara Mabrey, and she could be slotted back into the starting lineup if Miles is unable to return from a knee injury of her own this week. Miles’ status is to be determined after going down in the first half at Louisville on Sunday."

 

[Dillon77]

Yahoo Sports Profiles Dara Mabrey as the Mabrey Era Comes a Close at ND After 11 Years

As someone who has watched them personally in both High School and at Notre Dame, it's been strange to not see a "Mabrey" in the starting line-up column. And my wife says it's strangely off-kilter not to hear "Dara....no, no, no....Yes!" or something to the effect. Very long article, but some interesting points. (Thanks to NDWBB202 for initial post on The Bench)

This website is unavailable in your location. – 104.5 WOKV

www.wokv.com

 

[Dillon77]

Muffet McGraw/Jewell Loyd Sighting...Together, No Less.
Not surprising that Natalie "Ace" Achonwa can bring anyone together...particularly when you factor a baby into it!
For an ND fan, good to see this. Best of luck, Ace!

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Yahoo Sports Profiles Dara Mabrey as the Mabrey Era Comes a Close at ND After 11 Years

As someone who has watched them personally in both High School and at Notre Dame, it's been strange to not see a "Mabrey" in the starting line-up column. And my wife says it's strangely off-kilter not to hear "Dara....no, no, no....Yes!" or something to the effect. Very long article, but some interesting points. (Thanks to NDWBB202 for initial post on The Bench)

This website is unavailable in your location. – 104.5 WOKV

www.wokv.com

They definitely seemed like players you loved if they were on your team and hated if they weren't lol. Pretty amazing a group of sisters all have careers playing D1, especially for the same school.

 

[Dillon77]

ND defeats NC State 66-60 behind Sonia Citron's 28 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Lots of good plays, but this is the highlight (at least for me). Go Soni. Go Irish

 

[Frankus]

Without Miles, the Irish are an average team. I don’t expect her back and expect the Irish to not reach the elite 8. It’s not Ivey’s fault. The Irish simply don’t have the talent to lose Miles and compete at an elite level.

Assuming Miles is completely healthy next year, they have the potential to be elite, but not without a dominant big.

Ebo is graduating and Watson/Marshall are not the answer.

Ivey’s most important recruit postseason will be a big via the portal.

 

[CONNCAN]

Without Olivia Miles (and Dara Mabrey, who is already done for the season), this Notre Dame team just doesn't have the firepower to overcome many Top 20 Teams in the country. Maybe Olivia Miles will pull a "Willis Reed" and come out for the NCAA Tournament, after a week's worth of PT.

 

[Dillon77]

Without Olivia Miles (and Dara Mabrey, who is already done for the season), this Notre Dame team just doesn't have the firepower to overcome many Top 20 Teams in the country. Maybe Olivia Miles will pull a "Willis Reed" and come out for the NCAA Tournament, after a week's worth of PT.

As you know, I'm an ND fan and they ran into a perfect storm in Louisville: aggressive defensive coach who had the savvy and resources to throw waves at a ND team short of scoring resources. Hard for Sonia Citron to carry a team when she's got a defender in her uniform and no other shots are going in. Plus, I'm not sure Lauren Ebo is "back" from that injury she had -- she's just looked a tad off in her reactions since then.

However, the NCAA is a different beast: day off in between games (if you win) and just two in three days. Knock on wood, if the Irish keep at least a 4 seed, they'll be at home and be able to go after two teams they can handle in their current depleted state.
After that, who knows.

p.s. I don't expect to see Olivia Miles on a court anytime soon. "Day to day?" Well, only if September is a day.

 

[Frankus]

As you know, I'm an ND fan and they ran into a perfect storm in Louisville: aggressive defensive coach who had the savvy and resources to throw waves at a ND team short of scoring resources. Hard for Sonia Citron to carry a team when she's got a defender in her uniform and no other shots are going in. Plus, I'm not sure Lauren Ebo is "back" from that injury she had -- she's just looked a tad off in her reactions since then.

However, the NCAA is a different beast: day off in between games (if you win) and just two in three days. Knock on wood, if the Irish keep at least a 4 seed, they'll be at home and be able to go after two teams they can handle in their current depleted state.
After that, who knows.

p.s. I don't expect to see Olivia Miles on a court anytime soon. "Day to day?" Well, only if September is a day.

The problem is that there isn’t anybody on the team besides Sonia that can beat anyone off the dribble, and teams are going to use Louisville’s blueprint on how to guard Sonia.

It doesn’t help that neither Ebo or Watson can consistently finish at the rim and Westbeld is a good player, but can’t take over a game due to her inability to create her own shot, or beat a defender off the dribble and dish an assist.

That being said every bit of game playing time is good for the two Freshmen to adapt to the speed of the college game and hopefully Olivia will come back 100% (and stay healthy) next year.

 

[Dillon77]

The problem is that there isn’t anybody on the team besides Sonia that can beat anyone off the dribble, and teams are going to use Louisville’s blueprint on how to guard Sonia.

It doesn’t help that neither Ebo or Watson can consistently finish at the rim and Westbeld is a good player, but can’t take over a game due to her inability to create her own shot, or beat a defender off the dribble and dish an assist.

That being said every bit of game playing time is good for the two Freshmen to adapt to the speed of the college game and hopefully Olivia will come back 100% (and stay healthy) next year.

Points all well-taken.
- Maddy can't face the basket and drive by anyone, that's true. However, she has a solid dribble/pull-up move and and excellent turnaround jumper when she goes back to the basket. Still, tall order when you run into a team that has the resources to shut down she and Sonia (btw, I don't think all teams can pull of what Walz did; otherwise, why didn't Wes Moore shadow Citron?).

- Niele likes players who can create their own shots, which is one reason why Hannah Hidlago is coming next year. While Emma Risch is known as a sterling 3-point shooter, she can also create her own shots off the dribble. And she's 6'1", like Citron.

 

[Frankus]

Points all well-taken.
- Maddy can't face the basket and drive by anyone, that's true. However, she has a solid dribble/pull-up move and and excellent turnaround jumper when she goes back to the basket. Still, tall order when you run into a team that has the resources to shut down she and Sonia (btw, I don't think all teams can pull of what Walz did; otherwise, why didn't Wes Moore shadow Citron?).

- Niele likes players who can create their own shots, which is one reason why Hannah Hidlago is coming next year. While Emma Risch is known as a sterling 3-point shooter, she can also create her own shots off the dribble. And she's 6'1", like Citron.

I think Westbeld would be better in a more structured offense where there’s more ball movement, but this offense (and the future) is designed for more athletic players. Right now she really needs a point guard to set her up and there’s no one to do that. I wish Brown could have stepped in, but she still appears limited by her knee injury. Let’s hope OM isn’t wearing a brace next year.

 

[Dillon77]

I think Westbeld would be better in a more structured offense where there’s more ball movement, but this offense (and the future) is designed for more athletic players. Right now she really needs a point guard to set her up and there’s no one to do that. I wish Brown could have stepped in, but she still appears limited by her knee injury. Let’s hope OM isn’t wearing a brace next year.

I don't disagree with your overall premise, but take a look at her playing 3x3 with Maddy Siegrest and Alyssa Ustyby over the summer: Maddy W. was very, very comfortable with the create on the fly nature of the 3x3 beast.

Interestingly, Maddy is one of the few ND players who benefits from the other team playing zone. She can nestle into that area between the front 2 and back 3 and find the open spot for a quick pop. And she can drift out for an open 3.

Let's take a deep breath, cross fingers and think good thoughts in regafrds to how 'Liv Miles is going to spend her next few months.

 

[BRS24]

So what's the word on the streets re Miles injury and do we think ND is going to disclose anything before selection Sunday?

 

[VA Huskie]

I expect that ND won’t say anything. It’ll only hurt their seeding if she’s doubtful/out and probably won’t help if she’s available.

 

[Dillon77]

So what's the word on the streets re Miles injury and do we think ND is going to disclose anything before selection Sunday?

How many third-or-fourth hand reports do you want to hear that may/may not be true?
The one that I've heard is plausible is that while Liv's at practice, she's not dressed for it and/or taking part in any drills.

Don't know if we'll hear anything disclosed at this point if we haven't already. No one on the Bench has heard anything, either.
Haven't seen any "official disclosures" on the status of Diamond Johnson or Ta’Niya Latson, either.

 

[Dillon77]

 

[UConnCat]

There's public disclosure and there's disclosure to the committee

ND has no obligation to disclose anything publicly and shouldn't.

There is an obligation to disclose to the committee if they reach out and I suspect they will. Remember in 1998 when the committee chair reached out to Tara on Selection Sunday to ask about the status of Nygaard and was told Tara was walking her dog. Tara only had to avoid a phone call for a few hours. If Niele is not certain of OM's return, the most she'll say to the committee is that she's being evaluated and undergoing treatment and is day to day. The committee then will do something with that information.

 

[Blue Huskie]

There's public disclosure and there's disclosure to the committee

ND has no obligation to disclose anything publicly and shouldn't.

There is an obligation to disclose to the committee if they reach out and I suspect they will. Remember in 1998 when the committee chair reached out to Tara on Selection Sunday to ask about the status of Nygaard and was told Tara was walking her dog. Tara only had to avoid a phone call for a few hours. If Niele is not certain of OM's return, the most she'll say to the committee is that she's being evaluated and undergoing treatment and is day to day. The committee then will do something with that information.

Yes but that Nygaard injury happened much closer to the selection decision. Miles have been injured for over a week already. Avoidance of disclosure in this case would be a much bigger deal. However, I don't have any such confidence that the committee will knock itself out to obtain this information.

 

[UConnCat]

Yes but that Nygaard injury happened much closer to the selection decision. Miles have been injured for over a week already. Avoidance of disclosure in this case would be a much bigger deal. However, I don't have any such confidence that the committee will knock itself out to obtain this information.

Yes, I know. That's why I made the point that Tara only had to avoid the committee for a few hours, Nygaard was injured on Saturday in Oregon so there was travel back to Palo Alto and then testing (MRI), It's a much different situation for Miles' injury and her status. Niele will give one of two answers to the committee should they call: 1) we expect her to play or 2) she continues to be evaluated and is day to day.

BTW, Wes Moore has been very upfront with Johnson's injury. Before the ACC tournament he said she would not play with the hope that the additional rest would allow her to play in the NCAA tournament. After his team was eliminated from the ACC tournament,he said the plan was still for Johnson to practice and play in the NCAA tournament. No additional updates.

 

[Dillon77]

Yes, I know. That's why I made the point that Tara only had to avoid the committee for a few hours, Nygaard was injured on Saturday in Oregon so there was travel back to Palo Alto and then testing (MRI), It's a much different situation for Miles' injury and her status. Niele will give one of two answers to the committee should they call: 1) we expect her to play or 2) she continues to be evaluated and is day to day.

BTW, Wes Moore has been very upfront with Johnson's injury. Before the ACC tournament he said she would not play with the hope that the additional rest would allow her to play in the NCAA tournament. After his team was eliminated from the ACC tournament,he said the plan was still for Johnson to practice and play in the NCAA tournament. No additional updates.

That's what Niele said in Greensboro throughout the ACC tournament.
And, yes, I haven't seen or heard anything further on Diamond Johnson or Ta'Niya Latson from Florida State, who didn't play in the Wake Forest ACC game